Mondays, 8:30pm, BBC Scotland
Tuesdays, 7:30pm, BBC2
And it’s all up on iPlayer.
“Based on a Canadian original” is not a phrase you tend to hear very often but here we are. Iain Stirling off of Love Island challenges seven pro-amateur teams to create sand sculpture masterpieces on a beach in St Andrews in Scotland before the tide comes in and washes them away… minus about an hour so they can get shots and the judges can judge. If you like Iain Stirling you get plenty of Iain Stirling here – I dare say less can sometimes be more. Some of the sculptures (in episode one that I’ve watched) are genuinely impressive, although I daresay not as good as the computer generated drawing showing what they’re aiming for suggests. At half-an-hour it doesn’t outstay its welcome and what is it really other than the showstopper from Bake Off but in sand? But perhaps the fact that it *is* just sand and not showcasing a variety of skills is why it won’t hit in quite the same way. Scheduling it for after we’ve come off one of the hottest Summers in memory and not during it feels like an interesting choice – I’m sure it was filmed last year so they could have put it out at any time. It’s made by Tern of The Inner Circle fame so that’s nice isn’t it.
Watched it? Let us know what you thought in the comments!
I quite like the shots of all the sculptures collapsing at the end. A bit like life.
Watched the first episode, was slightly skeptical about it at first because generally I don’t watch much BBC2 content because most of it just doesn’t land with me as well as BBC1 content but the trailer looked good so thought i’d give it a go.
Initially as much as the whole concept seemed so random it’s actually quite a welcoming new addition to the schedules. when the show was announced I assumed it was 60 minute episodes but actually 30 minutes worked better in this instance because it has a good fast paced and less faffing approach, there wasn’t an overdose of chat/intos within the first few minutes they got going and the judging felt fair on who went home, rather impressive some of the builds they visually look incredible and i’m sure they will improve further as the series goes on. Iain is great at interacting with the contestants you don’t see much of him on our screens anymore so it seems fitting for him to get a new show from time to time
I like the way they show you a drawing in the sand on the beach about what they are making it’s a nice touch similar to how they show the models of what they create on Pottery Throwdown, Bake Off and Sewing Bee, agree that the sculptures being washed away was cool but then again quite sad after all the work they’ve put into them.
Best Show on BBC2 since ultimate wedding planner definitely going to watch the rest at some point, Big Break might be another BBC2 favourite but only time will tell when it airs.
Hearing episode one did around 970k which sounds pretty good for a BBC2 7:30 show!